Airplane control



June 3 1924.

[mm Jaw 1,496,200 M. c. BAUMANN ET AL AIRPLANE CONTROL '7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 30 1920 June 3 1924.

M. CJBAUMANN ET AL AIRPLANE CONTROL Filed 30. 1920 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 3 1924.

M. C. BAUMANN ET AL AIRPLANE CONTROL Filed A g- 30. 1920 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 [HZ/EH UTE June 3 1924.

M. BAUMANN ET AL AIRPLANE CONTROL Filed Aug. 30 1920 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 3 M. c. BAUMANN ET AL Filed Aug. 30, 1920 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 ZZ/ZZZYEEEEE June 3 1924. 1,496,200

M. c. BAUMANN ET AL AIRPLANE CONTROL Filed Aug. 50. 1920 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 12/221755555 fiYZI/EZ'ZZUFE 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 M. C. BAUMANN ET AL AIRPLANE CONTROL Filed Aug. 30

June 3 1924.

Patent June 3, 1924.

MILTON C. BA'UMALNN AND HOWARD M. RINEHART, F DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO DAYTON-WRIGHT COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

' AIRPLANE 1,496,20 orrtcs.

common Application filed August so, 1920. .Serial No. 406,765.

To all, whom .zt may concern:

Be it known that we, MILTON C. BAUMANN and HOWARD M. RINEHART, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery, and State 'of Ohio, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airplane Controls, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. The present invention relates to airplanes and particularly to controls therefor.

In airplanes designed and built for speed rather than weight carrying, one of the limiting'factors'is the landing .speed. Many attempts have been made to overcome this .difliculty by various means but with only .a smallmeasure of success. This objection "is readily understood when it is noted. that, with some very fast airplanes, a landing" 2 speed of a hundred miles an hour or more is necessary. 1 I

Among the objects of the present invention therefore is to overcome this difficulty by materially decreasing the landing speed but .at the same time permit very high flying s eed. Another, difliculty encountered with fast airplanes is the air resistance offered by the landing ear, wheels, etc. And it is another object of the present invention to substantially eliminate this air resistance.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention, will be apparent from the following description, reference being liadto the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown. I

In the drawings:

Figured-indicates one half of a bulkhead chem-airplane, carrying the landing gear mechanism andshowing' the wheel in the landing position.

Fig. 1 is a corresponding view of one 9 half of an airplane showing the wheel in Hi ht position.

Fig. 6 is a detailof the swivel connectin' the top end of the wheel-carrying rod wit the retracting worm.

Fig. 7 is an elevation from the right hand side of the detail shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan View with parts in section and parts removed of the mechanism for changing the camber of the wing.

F i 9 is a diagrammatic representation showing the relation of the several elements 5 of the entire mechanism when in flight position.

Fig. 10 is asimilar diagrammatic repre-. sentation showing the parts in landing position. 1

Fig. 11 is another diagrammatic. repre: sentation showing the method of operating the ailerons independently of the mechanism for changing the camber.

,Figs. 12 and 13 are details of Figs. 9 to 7 11 inclusive. i

In the drawings and descriptive matter following, there is described in some detail a particular form of retractible landing gear which has been found to be satisfactory for airplanes and which admits of easy and ef fective combination with the mechanism for changin the camber. However, the invention" relates more particularly to the means for changing the camber and the combinationbetween such means and a retractible. landing gear.

The claims Wlll be drawn to this camber mechanism and the combination between it and a retractible landinggear, as the latter forms the subject matter of an application which is being filed contemporaneously l herewith.

In the drawings, in Figs. land 1, 20 indicates the shell of an airplane fuselage.95 built up upon a bulkhead 21. This bulk- :"head'21 carries the'mechanism of the landbox 23 (in Figs. 1 and 1 the gears are 1 'ig, 2 shows a gearbox atthe'top-of the 'shown without the gear box for sake o retract-ing worm; with the rearward cover and certain other parts removed. 1

clearness), and plate 24. I

I The mechanism for the landing gear com- Fiv. 3 is' aside elevation ofthegearibox prises a rod or spindle member 30. which "50 showing the universal joint in'positioii." I

55 the bulkhead illustrated in Figs. i alfd 1*.

carries at its lower end a spindle for the wheel 31, the upper end of this member 30 forming asliding joint within a sleeve 32 which carries'ope member of the swivel-joint 33, the other" member of the swivel being uponf an internally threaded sleeve 34 00- operating with threads upon a rotatable worm 35.

Member is provided at its top with a fork 36 and the sleeve 32 is provided with oppositely extending fork members 37 for the retention of elastic cord 38 acting to 23 and is in fixed position with respect to the airplane and-landing gear, being rotatable by means of a spiral gear 40 fixed to its upper end and coacting with spiral gear 41. This spiral gear 41 is also within gear box 23, and is rotatable through its shaft 42, universal joint 43 and rod 44. Rod 44 extends to the instrument board and is provided at its end with a crank 45 as indicated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11.

It-Will be understood as is clearly indicated in Figs. 1, 1 and 2, that there is provided for each. of the two wheels of the land ing gear a member 30, and a retracting worm 35 with its gear 40, these worms be ing operated by a. single gear 41 through rod 44 and crank 45.

It will also be understood that'while a single brace rod-*25; has been shown'extending from the lower side ofthe fuselage toward the wheel, any suitable number of these brace rods may be used and in the construction that we have found satisfactory two of such rods were employed, these rods intended for and serving to takeshocks upon the wheel longitudinal of the fuselage when the plane is running upon the ground.

In Figs. 4 and 5 there is shown in detail the plate carrying the lower end of the retracting worm. As will be noted this plate is securely fastened to one side of the bulkhead 21 and is provided with a stirrup brazed to plate 22 and extending through a suitable slot in the bulkhead. This stirrup carries a suitable bearing 51 for the. lower end of the retracting worm While as mentioned above this landing gear has been described in detail, it will be readily understood that any form of retractible landing gear may with minor modifications be combined with the mechanism forchanging the camber which will now be described.

The form of airplane wing to which the present invention is most suitable is indi cated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 at 60. This wing comprises a central portion which is fixed with reference to the remainder of ,the airplane and two hinged edges 61 and 62. Of these movable edges, the edge 61 is the trailing edge the edge of the lane and is operable only through the cam er changing mechanism.

and is operable as an aileron while- 62 is the entering or forward edge The camber changing mechanism comprises a longitudinal shaft upon which is a worm gear 71 located within the gear box 23 and operated by gear 41. This shaft may extend a suitable distance either wav from the gear box and carry the camber changing mechanism and be slidable as a whole within gear 71, or there may be a short section of the shaft fixed within gear 71, the slidable portions of the shaft, de-

changing mechanism is of angular cross section, preferably square, and carries at a suitable distance from the central line of the fuselage two worms 72 and 73 shown clearly in Fig. 8. Of these two worms, the former,

72, is pinned to the shaft and the latter, 73, $5

is slidable thereon but in fixed position with relation to the central portion 60 of the airplane wing.

Carried upon these'two worms 7 2 and 73 and coacting therewith are two internally threaded sleeves 74 and 75. To sleeve 74 is attached a bell crank 7 3 through link 76. This crank 79 is pivoted at 77 and operates the aileron indicated at 80 through link 78 attached to its other arm or corner. aileron 80 is provided with a suitable mast 81 for attachment of the link 78. In Fig. 8

the elements 72 to 74 inclusive, are indicated as being within a casing or tube 90 provided with two slots 91 and 92 eration of the sleeves 74 and 75, and their attachments. Also in this figure the aileron 80 is indicated as operating in a plane at right angles to the actual plane'of operation.

The pivot point 77 for crank member 79 is represented as upon a side plate or attach-. ing plate 100 for the casing 90. Also attached at this pivot point 77 is another crank member operating in fashion similar to crank member 7 5 but attached through link 110 111 to the entering edge of the plane (not shown).

The mechanism shown in Fig. 8 will be duplicated for both wings, there being as many of these units as may be necessary, 115

depending upon-the wing spread.

The operation of this device for controlling the camber of the wings, it is'thought will be quite obvious from the description and drawings but the following should be noted.

Worms 72 and 73 are provided with oppositely pitched threads. As shown in Fig. 8, worm 72 is indicated as having a right hand thread and 73 as having a left hand thread. The effect of this is to draw the sleeves 74 and 75 together or push them apart upon rotation of shaft 70. By this means, rotating the shaft 70 in one direction will. change the camber of the wing The 95 permitting the op- 100 from flight position to landing position and rotation of the shaft in the other direction will change the camber from landing position to flight position.

In Figs. 9, and=11 are three diagrammatic views showing the several elements in flying p0sition,*land ing position and fly- :ing position with the aileron down, respectively. The operation of' the combined mechanisms. is clearly indicated in 'these three figures and is as follows:

When the machine is in flight, the wheels will be retracted and in the position indicated in Figs. 1 9 and 11. In this position also the entering edge of the plane 62 will be in the position indicated in Figs. 9 and 11, and the aileron 61 will be in the position indicated in Fig. 9.

"While in flight, in order to utilize the ailerons for control, suitable mechanism is provided whereby the shaft 70 may be moved longitudinally of the wings as by lever 120 as indicated in Fig. 11, carrying with it, the worm 72 and the sleeve 74 and operating through crank member 79 to move the aileron either up or down depending upon the desire of the operator. In this operation the worm 73 which is in fixed positionlongitudinally, through its bearing and casing 90, remains in position and retains, in flightposition the entering edge 62 of the plane.

When the operator desires to land it'becomes necessary for him to extend the landing gear and at the same time increase the camber of the wings so as to decrease the landing speed of the plane. This is readily accomplished by rotating the crank upon the instrument board, thus operating gears 41 and 40, worms 35,and the coacting parts to lower the wheels 31 to landing position. At the same time the shaft is rotated by gear 71 causing the worms 72 and 73 to push apart the sleeves 74 and 7 5, thus operating the crank members 79 and 110 and lowering the entering edge and aileron 62 and 61 respectively into the position shown in Fig. 10;

An alternative arrangement of the camber operating mechanism and aileron control involves' the fixing of the pivot oint for crank member 79 by means of the ai eron operating lever.v In such construction the crankinember 79 is attached to sleeve 74 at one corner, to the link 7 8 \pperating the ailero'Ii at. a second corner, and at the third corner is attachedto a cable or other suit able means; which cable is movable longitudinally by the operating lever in the cock such case the crank 79 travels around its' connection with the cable attachment as a pivotal point. On the other hand, when the aileron is operated alone, the crank member 79 will travel around its connection with shown may be varied without materially increasing or decreasing the effectiveness of the mechanism and it is contemplated that any such changes mi ht be made. How ever, the 'form of em odiment shown and described is the preferred one and has been chosen for the purpose of description.

'While the present invention has been specifically described. as applied to airplanes built and designed for speed rather than weight carrying, it should be noted that the application of the invention to any type of plane whether for speed or weight carrying, will materially increase the efiiciency of the .plane and safety in landing.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described, constitutes a pre-- ferred form of embodiment of thepresent invention, it is. to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all within the sco e of the claims which follow.

hat we claim is as follows:

1. In an airplane, means for retracting the landing gear, means-for decreasing the camber of the supporting planes, and common means for simultaneously operating both said first and second named means.

2. In an airplane, a retractible landing gear in combination with means for auto-- matically changing the camber of the planes to correspond with the position of the landing gear.

3. In an airplane, a retractible landing gear, means for operating said gear, and

tering and trailing edges of the plane, and

means operable by sliding the shaft longitudinally of the plane for changing the camber of only the trailing edge of the plane.

6. In an airplane, a wing comprising a medial portion fixed relative to the fuselage, entering and trailing edges movable relative to the medial portion, a rotatable and slidable shaft mounted within the medial portion and extending longitudinally therewith, means operable by one motion of said shaft for chan ing the position of both entering I and trailing edges of the plane, and means operable by the other motion of said shaft for changing the position of the trailing edge only.

7. In an airplane, a wing comprising a medial portion fixed relative to the fuselage; entering and trailing edges hinged thereto; means, mounted upon the medial portion for raising or lowering both said edges while in flight, and a retractible landing gear, the means for operating the latter, cooperating with the means for raising and lowering the said edges.

8. In an airplane having variable camber Wings, in combination, a retractible landing chassis, means for varying the camber of said wings. and a rotatable shaft operable for retracting the chassis and for varying the wing camber.

9. In an airplane having a variable camber wing and an aileron for banking, in combination, a shaft extending longitudinally of said wing and having means for independently giving it a rotary or sliding movement, means operable by rotating said shaft for changin the camber of said wing,

and means operab e by sliding said shaft for changing the position of the aileron.

10. In an airplane having a variable camber wing and an aileron for banking, in combination, a shaft extending longitudinally of said wing and having means for independently giving it a rotary or sliding movement, means operable by one of. said movements of said shaft for changing the camber of said wing, and means operable by the other of said movements of said shaft for changing the osition of said aileron.

In testimony w ereof we hereto aflix our signatures.

MILTON C. BAUMANN. HOWARD M. RINEHART.

Witnesses:

ROBERT E. SMITH, ALVINA LEHMAN. 

